Vehicle shock-absorber.



E. AM UEHLHAUSEM Jg. &, J. THOMSEN. VVEHICLE SHOCK ABSORBEB.. APPLIGA'IIN FILED SEPT. Z3, 1908.

946,555. Patented Jan. 18, 11910.

I Twmmcovs,

. UNITE eras arrrr rieten.

VEHCLE SHOGK-ABSORBER.

Specification of Letters rat-ent. Patented Jan. 18, 1910.

Application ied September 23, 1908. Serial No. 454,289.'

T 0 all 'whom it may conce-rn:

Be it known that we, Hanny Moni-innansnN, Jr., and JOHANNES ili-roarsnn, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ot' Cook and State of illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle Shoclofllbsorbers, o' which the following' is a specicat-ion.

This invention relates to devices particularly adapted. for use in connection with automobiles or other vehicles, t'or the purpose of lessening'the recoil 'of the springs .and thereby tending to absorb or eliminate shocks-to the body oit' the vehicle. lts objects are to provide a device ot this character which will be economical in construction, which may .be readily attached. to vehicles having various structural differences, and

:which Awill be exceedingly durable in oper`- ation. lVe attain these objects, and such other objects as will appear hereinafter, by

.means of the novel form of device shown in the accompanying drawings, in which-L .Figure 1 is a front view of our improved shock absorber shown in connection with the spring and frame of a vehicle; Fig. 9L is a side' elevation oti the same; Fig. 3 is a' de# tail'showing amoditied form of clamp; and Fig. 4 1s a front view showing a modiiied arrangement of the device.

As shown 'in Figs. 1 and 2, a indicates a spring O 'a vehiclel to which is secured al clamp 6 comprising a U-shaped bottom portion and a plate 7 which is pressed against the spring 5` by means of nuts 8.' At one side of the cla-mp 6 is a projecting pin or axle 9, preferably 'formed integrally therewith, whichv supports a rotatable sleeve 1d having a projecting arm 11. A spiral or vclock spring 12 engages, at its inner end,

with the rectangular periphery of the sleeve.

10,'a11d,` at its outer end, with a pin or projection'l 13. The pin 13 extends out from a bracket 1 4 which extends 'downwardly Jfrom' theclamp 6. By having the pins or projecf tions 9 and 13 thus arranged in fixed relation with reference to the clamp 6, the clamp maybe used for vehicle springs 'or various sizes, without interfering with the spring bearings. That is. vehicle springs 5, with varying numbers and sizes of leaves, may loev engaged bythe clamp 6 within the limits or movement o themross-bm' 7.

. 5r preferably., eztible connecting device, such as acha'in, engages. with the outer .end of thearni 11 which is made in the form ot' a hool: to receive the same and extends up to a clamp 16 secured to a frame member 1T ot' the 'vehicle' 'In order to attach this clamp to the angular tramo members, which without the necessity oi" boring holes through said trame member, we construct the same in the form of clamping jaws. substantially as shown in Figs. 2 or As shown in Fig. 2, one ot the jaws of the clampy 1G is provided with a: hook 1S for engagement with the -chain 15 and has an upper 'lip or projection 19 adapted to rest on the lower flange of the trame member 17. EL second clamp member 2G .ismade in zin-angular form to engage with the outeit'a'hd lower faces of the angular member 1T and is provided, on it-s lower side, with beveled surfaces Q1 adapted to en. gage with correspondingly beveledfprojections on the tirs-t clamp member. A bolt .v or cap-screw 2P passes freely through the tirst .member and engages with a tapped hole in the second clamp member 20. The arrangement is such that the two clamping jaws may be readily placed in position on Athe trame member. and when the cap-screw is tightened it will draw them together, thereby not only clamping the lower portion of the angular frame member between the rertical faces of the jaws but also between ing a rigid ei'igagement, so that the clamp will not readily become loosened. A slight modilication of such clamping device is shown in Fig. 3. in which one ot the jaws 24 is provided with a hook for engagement with the connecting device, and has a T- shaped head Q5 for engagement with the trame member 17, so that it may be reversed to throw the engaging end farther out from the frame member. A. secondjaw 'Q6 is .made in an angular form to engage with thelower and outer faces of the frame inemher, and is held in position by means ot a cap-screw QT which passes through the mem- =ber 2l, as indicated. ln order to allow for the variation of the sizes of the lower flange `ot the frame, washers are inserted between. the clamp members. which may be ,removed or 'more iuseited to j correspond "with the width ot' the lower leg of the angular traine member. ln. some instances the vehicle spring is placed directly 'under the frame member, at a comparatively short dis such case we provide a bracket 2S) which is are commonly used with many vehicles,

the horizontal faces thereof, thereby insur-' tance therefrom, as indicated in. Fig. +L. ln-

secured to the frame member and has projecting pins 30 and 3l for the coil spring. This bracketmay be of the form shown in Fig. 4, or of any preferred form, such for instancel as shown'lin Fig. i?, instead of a chain, we have here shown a 'flexible cable 32 which extends down from the arm ll and is connected to a clamp 33 on the vehicle spring. The cable 32 will not be liable to rattle, as might occur with a chain, in case of extreme Inovelnentvof the vehicle body; and, as shown in the drawing, may be adjusted by pulling the free end through a clamp 34.

The operation of this device will be readily understood by one sl'zilled in the art, When the spring l2. is placed in position, it is given a' considerable amount of tension, so that the chain 15 will ordinarily be kept tight, even when the body of the vehicle moves down in compressingl its supporting springs. 1When the body of the vehicle then starts to move relatively upward, its movement will be checked by the tension on the chain 15, which, of course, increases as the arm ll swings upwardly and winds up the spring.

Having thus described our invention, which we do not wishto limit to the precise arrangement or form herein shown and described,'what we claim and desire to secure by Letters PatentI is:

l. A frame clamp for a shock absorber, comprising a pair of jaws adapted to engage with an angular frame piece, said jaws being provided with coacting beveled surfaces, and a screw connecting said aws for forcing them together and into engagement with said frame piece.

In a device of the character set forth,

the combination of a clamp, a projecting axle on said clamp, a sleeve engaging with said axle, an arm projecting from said sleeve, a' pin projecting from said clamp, a spiral or clock spring having one end engaging with said sleeve and the opposite end engaging with said pin, beveled clamping jaws for engaging with an angular frame piece of the vehicle, a screw connecting said jaws, a hook on one of said jaws, and means connecting between said hook and the outer end of said arln, whereby the tension of said spring will be transmitted to the vehicle frame.

HENRY MUEHLHAUSEN, Jn. JOHANNES THOMSEN. l/Vitnesses:

R. B. THORNE, E. J. Si-LQILEY. 

